Texas College Student Deported in Controversial ICE Action

Any Lucia López Belloza, a 19-year-old Babson College freshman, was detained by immigration authorities at Boston Logan Airport on November 20 while attempting to surprise her family in Austin, Texas, for Thanksgiving. According to The Guardian, within 48 hours, she was deported to her native Honduras, a country she left at age seven.

Her father, Francis López, told The New York Times that immigration agents appeared at their Austin home on Sunday in three unmarked vehicles. One agent, wearing a green vest marked “ERO” (Enforcement and Removal Operations), reportedly rushed toward him while he washed his car. López said he ran into the backyard, closed the gate, and then went inside, locking the back door. The agents reportedly left about two hours later without knocking or attempting to communicate.

López Belloza’s lawyer, Todd Pomerleau, told Spectrum News, that federal officials “illegally deported a child against a court order.” 

Pomerleau noted that he could not find any record of the deportation order ICE claims was issued in 2015. He also said her removal violated a federal court order filed the day after her detention, which barred deportation for at least 72 hours while the case was reviewed.

According to the Austin American-Statesman, the federal government argued in court that the habeas petition filed on López Belloza’s behalf was moot because she was no longer in Massachusetts and was released from custody in Texas. 

Legal experts said the rapid deportation highlights how speed and geography can limit judicial oversight in immigration enforcement. “We don’t know if the deportation was illegal. That’s the problem with a deportation before someone’s day in court,” told Huyen Pham, an immigration law professor to the Austin American-Statesman.

López Belloza, now staying with her grandparents in Honduras, said she has been trying to remain positive. “I try to be as positive and as strong as I can… I want to be able to move forward and maybe continue my studies, whether here [in Honduras] or by finishing my semester at the university,” she told the Guardian.

Her lawyer said the case is part of a broader crackdown on non-criminal immigrants without legal status. “She should not be sitting in Honduras. She should be sitting in her classroom … and trying to fulfill her American dream,” Pomerleau told KUT News. Babson College said it is providing academic support as the case continues.